Headlights in the Rain
by holly7tree
Summary: Oneshot/ Bella and Emmett are brother and sister. Then one stormy night an tradegy occurs. Bella blames herself. Can she over come her guilt and move on?


**A/N: hey guys!!! i know your thinking 'Why the heck is she posting a new story when she should be UPDATING her other story?' I know i know please don't kill me. I am working on it. just very slowly.**

**Sad news... my Beta **Edward'sDarkAngel** decided to quit Fanfiction *sobs*. But she still promised me that she'll edit them. She did Edit this oneshot- cause I asked her too dumbys.**

**So this one shot is a twilighted version of an entry in a short story contest at our fair and I WON!! so I decided to see how you like it....**

**-Shadow**

* * *

Headlights in the Rain

My sister sat in her window seat, staring at the rain as each drop trailed slowly down the glass, like the tear stains I suspected would be on her cheeks. It was late, past midnight, and she was still in the same spot I had left her hours ago.  
"Bella." The soft spoken word hung in the still silence. My younger sister turned slowly, unwillingly, to face me, tear tracks clear on her face, just as I'd thought. I shook my head slowly back and forth at her tears. I knew that she still blamed herself for what had happened that night.

"It's not your fault." I said quietly and hopefully reassuringly. _Apparently not_, I thought as she glared back at me through her tears.

"Of course it is." She replied stubbornly. "If I hadn't gotten angry and left…" She trailed off into silence, turning and glaring outside instead of at me, not really seeing the world outside the glass. I sighed and turned away, leaving her to her thoughts for now, but planning on coming back later. She could be as stubborn as a mule once her mind was made up. It had been two weeks since the incident, but she still hadn't forgiven herself and I still hadn't given up on her. I could remember the day it happened like it was yesterday. It was a night very much like tonight.

* * *

I leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, staring at the front door. Renee and Charlie were sitting in the family room, doing the same as myself, only they didn't know what she was doing. I could hear the soft _patter patter_ of the rain bouncing off the roof, providing an appropriately ominous background to the anxious wait. It was past eleven and Bella wasn't home yet. She had promised to be back by ten and here we were an hour and a half later.

I knew where she was, but she had sworn me to secrecy, so I'd left our parents in the dark. We had a big fight when I pried, seeing her preparing to leave. She told me "it's none of you business," stomping her feet like a two-year-old. I finally talked it out of her though. She was going to see a boy, but she wouldn't tell me who.

"Why don't you go to bed now? You don't have to stay up." Charlie told me, still keeping his eyes trained on the door.

"I'm staying right here, Dad." I protested, not looking at him, but at the door instead. "I usually sleep better if Bells is home."

"Very well, then." My father returned his full attention to the door. It opened with a _bang_ then, startling all of us. My sister was soaking wet from the short walk from her car to the door, dripping all over the floor. I had missed her pulling into the driveway. She stood there, facing my parents, as they rose from the couch to confront her.

"Honey, where have you been? I've been worried sick!" Renee exclaimed, pulling her in for a hug. Bella returned it awkwardly, seeing as she was undeniably soaked. Renee pulled back, waiting for an answer from her daughter. Bella looked down at the floor, not responding. Her mouth was set in a tightly sealed line. Renee searched Bella's eyes, searching for an answer, and whatever she saw made her back away.

"Isabella Marie Swan, answer your mother!" Charlie, who had always had a short amount of patience, demanded, rising as well, his eyes blazing. He used the tone of voice which meant either answer now or face the consequences. Bella looked up from studying the hardwood floor.

"I was… um… seeing someone." She said guiltily. Bella had told my parents she was at a friend's house. My eyes went wide at her confession. Why would she actually confess?!

"And who is this person that you were seeing…?" Charlie prodded. She sighed.

"Edward Cullen." My sister finally confessed. I rolled my eyes at this. If you're gonna dig yourself a hole, why not lie in it too?

"Edward _Cullen__?_" Charlie was incredulous. Bella nodded in conformation. "Well, I want you to stay away from him." His voice had passed from disbelieving to demanding.

"But-"

"No buts, young lady. You live under my roof where my word is law. And the law states that any _Cullen_" he spat the word, "is off limits. I don't want you seeing him. Did you know that his sister was dragged off to the mad house claiming to see the future? They're nutcases, those Cullens. And I don't want my daughter to be corrupted by the likes of them! You stay away from him, you hear me?" My sister stared defiantly at him.

"No." She stated simply, her hands in fists at her sides.

"What did you say?" Charlie's voice was deadly low.

"No I won't. I will not stay away from him. We were meant to be!"

"What? You think this is Fate?" My sister nodded fiercely. "Well it isn't. This is just another crush that you will get over. Now go to bed."

"No!"

"Isabella!" He said warningly. "Go to bed right now. You live in my house and you will follow my rules."

"Fine! Then, I won't live here anymore. I'm leaving! I HATE YOU!!" My sister, with tears spilling down her cheeks, turned and ran out the door, slamming it behind her. Charlie sat back down, exasperated.

"We'll wait to see if she comes back." I settled down to wait, _again_.  
An hour later and Bella still hadn't showed. She hadn't taken her car, she was on foot, and her cell phone was in her purse, still on the couch. We were all starting to worry now. What if something had happened to her. Charlie stood up.

"I'm going to go look for her." He went in to his bedroom, pulling on a rain jacket. "I'm coming with you. She's my daughter too." Renee objected, going to get her coat.

"You stay here." Charlie instructed me as I started to get up from my seat. "Give us a call if she comes back home." They left out the garage door, taking the car. I went into my room, starting up the Xbox. I was on level seven when I heard the front door open.  
"Bells?" I called. My door opened to show a dripping Bella. She looked so broken, so torn. Just the depressed look on her face pushed me over the edge. I crawled off my bed, wrapping her in a hug. I didn't care if she was wet and now I was going to be too, she was my sister and I needed to comfort her. My sister broke down into heaving sobs, sinking to the floor. I followed her down, my arms still around her. "Sshhhh" I crooned, "Its okay. It's okay. Everything will work out, I just know it. Give life a chance." She looked up at me, trying to get her tears under control.

"But, Em, I love him! How can Charlie do that? Drive away all my hopes and dreams? It's so unfair!" I half smiled at her wild outburst.

"Hasn't someone told you life's not fair? Bella, look at me," She'd looked down, but now she rose her eyes to meet my own. "You'll make it through this. It will work out if Fate wants it to. If it doesn't, then you guys weren't the right match and there is someone else out there waiting for you." Bella buried her head into my shoulder.  
"I hope your right." She mumbled. I looked around the room, trying to find something to distract me from Bella's pain. My gaze fell on the phone on my night table. _Crap._ I was supposed to call Renee when she got home. I reached down and tried prying Bella's arms off of me. She just gripped me tighter. I sighed impatiently. "Bella, you need to let go. I have to call Mom." She let go reluctantly. I stood up and dialed Renee's phone number.  
_  
Ring__.  
__  
Ring_

Renee usually picked up by the second ring, and a little wad of fear settled in my gut until I remembered that sometimes she couldn't get to it fast enough and it went to the third ring.  
_  
Ring__  
_  
Someone picked up. "Hello?" Said a strange gruff voice that definitely wasn't Charlie. "Hello? Is someone there?" He said again.

"Yes." I finally managed to squeak out. Why didn't Mom or Dad answer the phone? "Who is this?"

"My name is Officer Fox. May I ask who is speaking?"

"Emmett Swan".

"Son of Chief Swan?"

"Yes." I told him numbly, my mind trying desperately to understand.

"Then I'm sorry to say that I have bad news. Chief Swan and his wife have been in a fatal accident. It seems that they were driving  
across the intersection of Bayshore St. and Drydale Ave. when another car hit them head on. The other driver had apparently fallen asleep and drifted to the opposite side of the road. Chief Swan was still alive when we got to him, but had suffered many injuries and did not last to the ambulance. I'm sorry for your loss." The officer hung up.  
I turned to Bella. She was staring at me curiously. I had been talking to someone other than Mom or Dad. How or why, she didn't know.

"Bella, Mom and Charlie are dead."

* * *

The funeral had taken place a week after. I was a speaker, Bella too guilty and miserable to speak. She just sat on the pulpit next to me, often squeezing my hand throughout the ceremony. At the cemetery, family and friends gathered to say their final goodbyes. One of my Aunts had paid for bagpipes to play 'Danny Boy' as the casket sunk in to the ground. I turned away from the site with tears in my eyes, not wanting to have my last memory of them be wooden boxes and a hole.

We were the last to leave. My sister and I stood at the grave, just looking at the mound of dark soil. Bella then pulled away and walked towards a young man. He had bronze tousled hair and green eyes. He pulled her in for a hug and then promptly kissed her. It was a soft, sweet kiss, one filled with love and understanding. This must be Edward, who I'd never met before now. Bella then came back to me and we walked away hand in hand.

Since then, Bella had only picked at her food. I luckily had a job to provide for the both of us, but college was out of the question. Mom had always wanted us to go, because no one in her family did.  
Moonlight streamed through my window, making a small patch of light on the floor as I entered the threshold of my room. Walking over to my bed, I turned off my lamp and crawled in under the covers. I didn't want to leave the present, yet I wanted to visit the past. I let myself fall into a state of pure nothing and soon drifted off into sleep. I was outside in a forest. A deer trail stretched in front of me. The sunlight peaked through the leaves and branches overhead, giving everything a cast of green. I followed the path as it wound through the trees. Sometimes I had to go around fallen trunks or over rocky boulders. I didn't know why I followed the path, I just felt compelled to do so.

Eventually, I came to a small grassy meadow. My mother was standing there, sunlight wafting in her hair. She looked like an angel, sent from Heaven. Maybe that's what she was.

"Mom?" I asked hesitantly, "Is it really you?" I tentatively approached her.

"Yes sweetie, it is really me. This has been the first time I've been able to reach you.. Your sister is still blaming herself is she not?" I nodded. "Oh I wish…. Well what is done is done and you can't bring back the dead. Listen to me; go tell your sister to stop blaming herself. It was not her fault. It was your father's and mine. If we had just talked it out and came to an understanding instead of arguing, then we might still be in the world. And tell her… Tell her that your father and I have agreed that we were wrong. They are meant to be. I have been watching them, and he handles her so carefully. They truly do love each other. Emmett, do know that your father and I love you very much and will always be with you in every trial. Promise me you will tell her." She pleaded with me, her kind eyes filled with love.

"I will." I told her, choking back tears.

"I must go now, my time is up. Farewell, I love you." My mother faded into the sunlight leaving me standing in the meadow alone. I walked to a stream at the edge of the clearing. It rustled by, taking sediment with it. Life is like the stream. Each sediment is one of us. Some are left behind while new ones are introduced. And eventually, we'll be left behind.

I stood watching each little speck float in the water until sunlight streaming from my window awakened me. Sitting up I remembered the dream of Mom that I had. I padded across the hall to my sister's room. She was curled up under a blanket on her bed, fully clothed with dark tear stains on her cheeks. I placed my hand on her and shook her awake.

"Bella, wake up. Come on sis, wake up." She groaned and opened her eyes to look at me. "Come on sit up." She obeyed my instructions, looking at me quizzically and still sadly. I place her hand in mine and told her about my dream.

* * *

_A/N: Sad I know... sniffles. but it teaches us a great lesson on life. We are not to judge people by their past. and we cannot know if somone is truly ment for one another. -ok I'm beginning to sound like a wise man. Freaky  
_  
_Review review review_

_-Shadow_


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